Human umbilical cord plasma proteins revitalize hippocampal function in aged mice

Human umbilical cord plasma proteins revitalize hippocampal function in aged mice Nature 544, 7651 (2017). doi:10.1038/nature22067 Authors: Joseph M. Castellano, Kira I. Mosher, Rachelle J. Abbey, Alisha A. McBride, Michelle L. James, Daniela Berdnik, Jadon C. Shen, Bende Zou, Xinmin S. Xie, Martha Tingle, Izumi V. Hinkson, Martin S. Angst & Tony Wyss-Coray Ageing drives changes in neuronal and cognitive function, the decline of which is a major feature of many neurological disorders. The hippocampus, a brain region subserving roles of spatial and episodic memory and learning, is sensitive to the detrimental effects of ageing at morphological and molecular levels. With advancing age, synapses in various hippocampal subfields exhibit impaired long-term potentiation, an electrophysiological correlate of learning and memory. At the molecular level, immediate early genes are among the synaptic plasticity genes that are both induced by long-term potentiation and downregulated in the aged brain. In addition to revitalizing other aged tissues, exposure to factors in young blood counteracts age-related changes in these central nervous system parameters, although the identities of specific cognition-promoting factors or whether such activity exists in human plasma remains unknown. We hypothesized that plasma of an early developmental stage, namely umbilical cord plasma, provides a reservoir of such plasticity-promoting proteins. Here we show that human c...
Source: Nature - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Letter Source Type: research